~ Day by day with RA …

What’s the Point?

In my last post, I talked about wanting disposal RA. Some of the comments got the humor I intended and laughed along with the joke, while others gave more serious, thoughtful, and heartfelt responses.

I thought about disposability last night around 10:00 while my boss and I were putting out yet another of the seemingly endless fires that seem to erupt in our company and in our industry. It was only Tuesday and I had already put in over 30 hours of work. I thought about the post and I wondered to myself, “At what point does my sanity and my health rise above my commitment to this company?”

As we mature, we pass a lot of pivotal points: at what point do we select a career, find a spouse, settle down with a house and a family, change careers, maybe change spouses, decide to retire.

If you have RA, or any significant disease, these points become more numerous. At what point do you decide “something” is really wrong and go seeking a diagnosis and hopefully a solution? What’s the point when you decide the treatment plan isn’t working and you look for alternate answers? At what point do you perhaps change rheumatologists? If you’re single, at what point do you discuss the disease with someone in a relationship?

At each of these points, there is an undefined critical mass that tips the scales. There is some catalyst that finally makes us exclaim, “I’m ready,” or perhaps, “I’ve had enough.” Or maybe even, “I’ve had enough, I’m ready for a change.” Regardless of the quantifiable elements, there is also an emotional element, whether it be frustration, anticipation, or even resignation that brings us to that point of change.

Am I there yet? I don’t think so.

In all of us, in addition to the critical mass that’s building and yearning for change, there’s also the foundation of where you are as well as the other emotional elements that brought you to that place. While we may secretly dream of chucking it all and moving to a deserted island, all the points that brought us to where we are today are anchor points in our lives that keep us in place. Only when we can untether those anchors can we point our compass in another direction.

What’s the point of this post? Nothing really. Or perhaps everything.

I hope whatever’s pointed in your direction today is a good thing for you and yours.